Sirius wasn't sure for how long he held on to James as though his life depend on it. He wasn't sure when the role of being the one comforting and the one needing the comfort had switched between them. Though he was sure that he had done most of the comforting. All he knew was that, one-minute James was sobbing all the fears that he had had since waking in the tombinto Sirius' shoulder, and the next, he had passed out from emotional and physical exhaustion. There were small rays of sunshine making their way through the dirty window meaning that it had to be in the early hours of the day. At some point or another during the night, they had sunk on to the floor, their legs no longer able to support them. It wasn't until he had to stand to get James into bed that Sirius even noticed they had been sitting on the floor. It wasn't hard to get James to bed. He had done it before. There had been many times where they had gone out drinking and Sirius awoke the next day to find James sprawled on the floor (how he got there, Sirius never knew), more then likely close to freezing his balls off. So being the great friend he was, he would get James into bed, even with the major hangover he had.
He smiled at the memories as he stretched out the aches and pains sitting on the floor all night had given him. It was also then that Sirius noticed that Paige wasn't in the room. When had she left? Sirius made his out of the room, shaking the tiredness from him as he walked. He headed toward the kitchen thinking of getting himself a drink, regardless of the time. God knew that he needed one. When he entered the kitchen, the sight of brown hair spilled all over the table told him at once where Paige had ended up. Trying not to wake her, he quietly made his way over to the cabinet where the firewhiskey was kept. But, cause of those damn Auror senses, he wasn't quiet enough. Paige's head snapped up at whatever sound that Sirius had made to alert her of his presence in the room. When she saw it was only Sirius she relaxed.
"How is he?" She asked, voice hoarse from just awaking up.
"He's…Sleeping. For now." Sirius said looking at Paige for a moment before continuing his way to the firewhiskey cabinet. He knew that wasn't really what she had meant when she asked, "How is he?" but he didn't really know that answer himself. But thankfully, Paige let it slide. Instead she asked,
"And how are you?" while rubbing her eyes tiredly. She looked as though she hadn't had enough sleep in a fair few days. Sirius didn't answer her question right away. He grabbed a bottle of firewhiskey, a goblet from another cabinet, and sat down at the table, across from Paige. All the while knowing that she was watching him. Once Sirius had poured himself a drink, and had taken a swig of said drink did he answer her.
"My best friend who has been dead for the past fourteen years, isn't dead any more." He said simply.
"Well, we'll have to wait till James wakes up to know for sure, but going on what he said last night, he never was dead." Paige said reaching across the table and grabbing Sirius'goblet from him and taking a drink from it.
"And as I said last night," Sirius said, taking the goblet from her as she passed it back, "I took his pulse when I found him. And he didn't have one." He ended taking another drink that then passing it back to Paige without her asking for it. She took it from him, took a drink and said,
"You don't have to tell me about there not being a pulse Sirius. I checked too." And she pushed thegoblet back to him. They both sat in silence for a little bit, just passing the goblet back and forth.
"I just realized," Sirius said, sitting up straight. "I didn't finish telling Phinneas about what was going on so that he could give the message to Dumbledore."
"I told him about it last night, after I left the room. He moved to a portrait in the hallway so wewouldn't disturbed you guys. Dumbledore knows whats going on and he said that he's looking into it. And that he'll be over soon to question James himself. Just to be safe you know? He also said that we should keep the things we tell him to a minimum." Paige said calmly.
"Well yea, if Dumbledore still isn't positive that he's really James course we're not gonna start telling him about everything with the order," Sirius said, but stopped when he saw Paige shaking her head.
"No, he didn't meanjust order things,he meant...other things." Paige said.
"What do you mean other things?" Sirius asked, pouring more firewhiskey into their goblet.
"Like you being in Azkaban things for example." Paige said softly. Sirius snapped his head up to look at her. It hadn't crossed his mind. Not once. Well, thoughts about Azkaban had crossed his mind last night, but never the thought that he would have to tell James that he spent twelve years inside it. And then, thinking of what James reaction would be, another, bigger, fact that James had to be made aware of came to his mind. Which was the fact that Harry was still alive.
"Was one of those things that we're not suppose to tell James that Harry's alive?" Sirius asked, torn between what answer he wanted her to give him. If Dumbledore said that he didn't want James to know, Sirius would be angry at the man for keeping such information from James. And yet he would feel relieved. Cause that would give him time to think of how he would drop a bomb shell like that on James.
"I don't know. But I think it was." Paige said leaning back into her chair and closing her eyes. She really didn't wanna go back to work. But she knew that she had to. Cause people would get worried at some point or another. And also she had to go back cause she really just wanted to get away from Sirius so she could sort through her thoughts. injuries
As Sirius watched her close her eyes, he realized that the cuts caused by Jameshad been healed. Along with her other injuries. He opened his mouth to comment on it when realization of what had happened earlier in this kitchen, in the very chair he was sitting in, came back to him. And he dropped the goblet, which he held in his hand. Paige opened her eyes to look at him, and saw that he had terror written all over his face.
"What's wrong?" She asked sitting up looking at him.
"Oh my god. What the hell did I do?" Sirius said, though it was more so to himself then to Paige.
"Sirius…" Paige said again. This time he turned to look at her.
"Paige, I…Oh god…Paige I tortured him. Oh god. I, I can't believe…I really tortured him. And he was telling the truth. Oh god Paige if you didn't come back when you had…" Sirius said terror, disbelief and fear were all laced into his voice as he spoke. Having hours to herself last night, Paige had already realized this and had planed how to handle the situation.
"And he tortured me too. Not a lot, but still. And had you been the one left alone in the room with him, he probably would have done it to you. We were all under the assumption that the other was a death eater. He wont hold it against you that you were very, very mad that a "death eater" was posing as him." She said in a calm, soothing voice.
"It doesn't matter! What I did to him and was going to do to him…" Sirius said angerly before trailing off.
"Please Sirius. I had done more damage to him while we were dueling. You gave him cuts," Paige said. She knew that this was one battle that she was not going to win.
"Cuts that could have killed him if they were let to bleed any longer then they had." Sirius said back.
"There is nothing that I can say to you to make this better. All I can say is that he would have done the same if he was in your position. I'm sure of it." Paige said, still in the same calm, soothing voice. Sirius was silent. He wasn't buying a word of what she said. There was no getting around the fact that, had he been left alone longer with him, he really would have removed the skin on James' arm. His best friend he would have done this to. And that thought made him sick. It was no shock that James didn't believe him when he said he was really Sirius. The Sirius that James knew would never result to death eater tactics. Which he had done. He felt disgusted with himself.
"Don't go and beat yourself up now or anything." Paige said rising out of her chair and stretching as Sirius had done before. "James doesn't need you to do stupid shit like that now." She added reaching for her cloak and putting it on.
"Where are you going?" Sirius asked her. He really didn't want her to go. He need someone to talk to about everything that was going on. About what he should say to James when he woke up. How to avoided answering questions that James might ask that Sirius can't answer. But on top of all that, he really just didn't want her to leave. There were still a lotof things that they needed to talk about.
"I gotta get back to work. They may all hate me over there, but there still gonna miss me. And plus, I'm sure to have a ton of paper work just sitting on my desk." She said straightening out her cloak. Once again, not meeting Sirius' eyes.
"Are you going to come back?" Sirius asked trying to sound casual. Paige looked at him for a moment before answering.
"No. I don't think so." Sirius looked at her sharply when she said this.
"Not even to see James when he gets his shit together?" Sirius asked her angrily.
"I'm sure that I will see James soon enough. But I think it's better if I don't hang around here." She said.
"Oh, I get it." Sirius said catching on. Paige looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Do you now?" She said sounding skeptical.
"Yea. You don't wanna be here with me. That's why you're leaving." Sirius said angrily. Paige just sighed and shook her head. "Don't shake your head no when I'm right." Sirius said.
"Sirius…You know what? I don't have time to stand here and argue with you. Remus was contacted last night. Some time today talk to him. He needs some information about whats going on. If I were him, I would be going crazy. So make sure you talk to him. And soon." She said, sounding like a mother who was going out and was giving her kids a "To Do" list before she left. "And make sure you get some sleep as well alright?" And she headed over to the door. When she reached the door she turned back to look at Sirius, "It was good to see you again Sirius." She said. With that, not even waiting for an answer, she left.
Sirius sat there for a few moments. Head spinning from everything that had happened in the last 24 hours. There was only one day between the present time and when he and Remus were getting drunk on the day that they had lost their best friend and sister. And what a one-day it had been. Sirius looked down at the floor to see where the goblet he had dropped was, when he saw something that made his heart hurt. There was blood on the floor underneath the chair next to him. The chair that he had sat James in. He reached down and picked up the goblet, which was by the leg of his own chair, and tried to igrone the blood of his best friend. The blood of his best friend that he had shed no less. He walked over to the sink and put the goblet inside and then leaned against the sink, closing his eyes. Trying to block out the images of him cutting James' arm out of his mind. He wasn't having much success though.
Deciding that he would take Paige's advise, he started to make his way upstairs. As he was walking up the stairs, however, he saw something that made himsprint up the rest of the stairs till he made it to the room where he had left James. What he saw that made him run up the stairs was the house-elf heads that had been mounted on to the wall. He had not seen Kreature to tell him to stay away from James' room. And James for that matter. Quietly, he opened the door to the room. James was still fast asleep. Looking around, he didn't see Kreature anywhere in the room. Letting out a sigh of relief, Sirius closed the door and turned to head upstairs to look for Kreature there. The last thing that James needed was to be woken up by that bloody house-elf. God only knows what the little pain in the bloody ass would say to him.
He found Kreature poking around in the attic. Again. Sirius gave him a direct order to stay away from James' room and that he was not aloud to be in the same room as the guest that was in the house. As soon as the guest enters the room, Kreature is to apperate to another room of the house at once. Sirius wouldn't say who the guest was because he didn't want Kreature to get curious. The demand for Kreature to apperate out of the room was because he could mutter many nasty thingsif he were to walk out of theroom that Sirius didn't want James hearing.
After telling off Kreature, Sirius made his way back down stairs, to get some much needed sleep.
A.N-How was that? Short yes I know, and I'm sorry but I want where James and Sirius talk to be its own chapter. So tell me, what do you guys think is going on with Paige and Sirius? I wanna know what you guys are thinking about it. Now, I really must say, that I really do smile ever time I get a review. I really do. No lie. Soooo, can you guess what I'm gonna ask of you guys? Cough-review-cough. Well, let me know what ya think.
p.s- Don't know if any of you care or not, but I talked with my best friend, and we're good now. :)